Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (; 23 December 1804 – 13 October 1869) was a French

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

Early life

He was born in

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

, educated there, and studied medicine at the

Collège Charlemagne In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

in Paris (1824–27). In 1828, he served in the St Louis Hospital. Beginning in 1824, he contributed literary articles, the ''Premier lundis'' of his collected ''Works'', to the newspaper ''

Globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe ...

'', and in 1827 he came, by a review of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

's ''Odes et Ballades'', into close association with Hugo and the Cénacle, the literary circle that strove to define the ideas of the rising

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

and struggle against classical

formalism Formalism may refer to: * Form (disambiguation) * Formal (disambiguation) * Legal formalism, legal positivist view that the substantive justice of a law is a question for the legislature rather than the judiciary * Formalism (linguistics) * Scient ...

. Sainte-Beuve became friendly with Hugo after publishing a favourable review of the author's work but later had an affair with Hugo's wife, Adèle Foucher, which resulted in their estrangement. Curiously, when Sainte-Beuve was made a member of the

French Academy French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

in 1845, the ceremonial duty of giving the reception speech fell upon Hugo.

Career

Sainte-Beuve published collections of poems and the partly

autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. ...

''Volupté'' in 1834. His articles and essays were collected the volumes ''Port-Royal'' and ''Portraits littéraires''. Plaque Sainte-Beuve, 11 rue du Montparnasse, Paris 6

Plaque Sainte-Beuve, 11 rue du Montparnasse, Paris 6

During the rebellions of 1848 in Europe, he lectured at

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

on '' Chateaubriand and his literary circle''. He returned to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1849 and began his series of topical columns, ''Causeries du lundi'' ('Monday Chats') in the newspaper, ''

Le Constitutionnel ''Le Constitutionnel'' (, ''The Constitutional'') was a French political and literary newspaper, founded in Paris during the Hundred Days by Joseph Fouché. Originally established in October 1815 as ''The Independent'', it took its current name ...

''. When

Louis Napoleon Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

became Emperor, he made Sainte-Beuve professor of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

poetry at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...

, but anti-Imperialist students hissed him, and he resigned.

''Port-Royal''

After several books of poetry and a couple of failed novels, Sainte-Beuve began to do literary research, of which the most important publication resulting is ''Port-Royal''. He continued to contribute to '' La Revue contemporaine''. ''Port-Royal'' (1837–1859), probably Sainte-Beuve's masterpiece, is an exhaustive history of the

Jansenist Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by th ...

abbey of

Port-Royal-des-Champs Port-Royal-des-Champs was an abbey of Cistercian nuns in Magny-les-Hameaux, in the Vallée de Chevreuse southwest of Paris that launched a number of culturally important institutions. History The abbey was established in 1204, but became fa ...

, near Paris. It not only influenced the historiography of

religious belief Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...

, i.e., the method of such research, but also the

philosophy of history Philosophy of history is the philosophical study of history and its discipline. The term was coined by French philosopher Voltaire. In contemporary philosophy a distinction has developed between ''speculative'' philosophy of history and ''crit ...

and the history of

esthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed th ...

. He was made Senator in 1865, in which capacity he distinguished himself by his pleas for

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

and of the press. According to

Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly (2 November 1808 – 23 April 1889) was a French novelist and short story writer. He specialised in mystery tales that explored hidden motivation and hinted at evil without being explicitly concerned with anythin ...

, "Sainte-Beuve was a clever man with the temper of a turkey!" In his last years, he was an acute sufferer and lived much in retirement. One of Sainte-Beuve's critical contentions was that, in order to understand an artist and his work, it was necessary to understand that artist's biography.

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous Eng ...

took issue with this notion and repudiated it in a set of essays, ''

Contre Sainte-Beuve ''Contre Sainte-Beuve'' (, "Against Sainte-Beuve") is an unfinished book of essays written by Marcel Proust between 1895 and 1900 and first published posthumously in 1954. The book was discovered, with its pages in order, amongst Proust's papers ...

'' ("Against Sainte-Beuve"). Proust developed the ideas first voiced in those essays in ''

À la recherche du temps perdu ''In Search of Lost Time'' (french: À la recherche du temps perdu), first translated into English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'', and sometimes referred to in French as ''La Recherche'' (''The Search''), is a novel in seven volumes by French ...

'' (In Search of Lost Time).

Reception

In 1880

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

, though an avowed opponent of Sainte-Beuve, prompted the wife of his friend

Franz Overbeck Franz Camille Overbeck (16 November 1837 – 26 June 1905) was a German Protestant theologian. In Anglo-American discourse, he is perhaps best known in regard to his friendship with Friedrich Nietzsche; in German theological circles, Overbeck re ...

, Ida Overbeck, to translate the ''Causeries du lundi'' into German. Until then, Sainte-Beuve was never published in German despite his great importance in France, since it was considered representative of a French way of thinking detested in Germany. Ida Overbeck's translation appeared in 1880 under the title ''Die Menschen des XVIII. Jahrhunderts'' (''Men of the 18th Century''). Nietzsche wrote to Ida Overbeck on August 18, 1880: "An hour ago I received the ''Die Menschen des XVIII. Jahrhunderts'', ..It is just a marvellous book. I think I've cried." Ida Overbeck's translation is an important document of the cultural transfer between Germany and France in a period of strong tension, but it was largely ignored. It was not until 2014 that a critical and annotated edition of this translation appeared in print.Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve: Menschen des XVIII. Jahrhunderts. Übersetzt von Ida Overbeck, initiiert von Friedrich Nietzsche. Mit frisch entdeckten Aufzeichnungen von Ida Overbeck neu ediert von

Andreas Urs Sommer Andreas Urs Sommer (born 14 July 1972) is a German philosopher of Swiss origin. He specializes in the history of philosophy and its theory, ethics, philosophy of religion, and Skepticism. His historical studies center on the philosophy of Enligh ...

. 423 pp. Berlin: Die Andere Bibliothek, 2014. Sainte-Beuve died in Paris, aged 64.

Publications

Non-fiction * ''Tableau Historique et Critique de la Poésie Française et du Théâtre Français au XVIe Siècle'' (2 vols., 1828). * ''Port-Royal'' (5 vols., 1840–1859). * ''Portraits Littéraires'' (3 vols., 1844; 1876–78). * ''Portraits Contemporains'' (5 vols., 1846; 1869–71). * ''Portraits de Femmes'' (1844; 1870). * ''Causeries du Lundi'' (16 vols., 1851–1881). * ''Nouveaux Lundis'' (13 vols., 1863–1870). * ''Premiers Lundis'' (3 vols., 1874–75). * ''Étude sur Virgile'' (1857). * ''Chateaubriand et son Groupe Littéraire'' (2 vols., 1860). * ''Le Général Jomini'' (1869). * ''Madame Desbordes-Valmore'' (1870). * ''M. de Talleyrand'' (1870). * ''P.-J. Proudhon'' (1872). * ''Chroniques Parisiennes'' (1843–1845 & 1876). * ''Les Cahiers de Sainte-Beuve'' (1876). * ''Mes Poisons'' (1926). Fiction * ''Volupté'' (1834). * ''Madame de Pontivy'' (1839). * ''Christel'' (1839). * ''La Pendule'' (1880). Poetry * ''Vie, Poésies et Pensées de Joseph Delorme'' (1829). * ''Les Consolations'' (1830). * ''Pensées d'août'' (1837). * ''Livre d'Amour'' (1843). * ''Poésies Complètes'' (1863). * ''Poésies françaises d'une Italienne'' (1854) by Agathe-Sophie Sasserno, preface by Sainte-Beuve In English translation * ''Portraits of Celebrated Women'' (1868, trans., Harriet W. Preston). * ''Memoirs of Madame Desbordes-Valmore'' (1873, trans., Harriet W. Preston). * ''English Portraits'' (1875, a selection from ''Causeries du Lundi''). * ''Monday-chats'' (1877, trans., William Matthews) * ''Essays on Men and Women'' (1890, trans., William Matthews and Harriet W. Preston). * ''Essays'' (1890, trans., Elizabeth Lee). * ''Portraits of Men'' (1891, trans., Forsyth Edeveain). * ''Portraits of Women'' (1891, trans., Helen Stott). * ''Select Essays of Sainte-Beuve'' (1895, trans.,

Arthur John Butler Arthur John Butler (21 June 1844 – 26 February 1910), was an English scholar, editor, and mountaineer, professor of Italian language and literature at University College London. Apart from his work on Dante and other Italian poets, Butler trans ...

). * ''The Prince de Ligne'' (1899, trans., Katharine Prescott Wormeley). * ''The Correspondence of Madame, Princess Palatine'' (1899, trans., Katharine Prescott Wormeley). * ''The Essays of Sainte-Beuve'' (1901, ed., William Sharp). * ''Memoirs and Letters of Cardinal de Bernis'' (1902, trans., Katharine Prescott Wormeley). * ''Causeries du lundi'' (1909–11, 8 vols., trans., E.J. Trechmann). * ''Volupté: The Sensual Man'' (1995, trans., Marilyn Gaddis Rose).

References

Citations

Sources

* Nicolson, Harold George (1957). ''Sainte-Beuve''. London: Constable. * Williams, Roger L. (1957). "Sainte-Beuve, Sultan of Literature". In: ''Gaslight and Shadow: The World of Napoleon III''. New York: Macmillan.

* Arnold, Matthew (1910)
"Sainte-Beuve."
In: ''Essays in Criticism.'' Boston: The Ball Publishing Co., pp. 137–152. * Babbitt, Irving (1912)
''The Masters of Modern French Criticism.''
Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, pp. 79–188. * Barlow, Norman H. (1964). ''Sainte-Beuve to Baudelaire: A Poetic Legacy.'' Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press. * Birrell, Augustine (1892)
"Sainte-Beuve."
In: ''Res Judicatæ.'' New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 298–308. * Calvert, George H. (1875)
"Sainte-Beuve, the Critic."
In: ''Essays Æsthetical.'' Boston: Lee and Shepard, pp. 158–197. * Chadbourne, Richard M. (1977). ''Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve.'' Boston: Twayne Publishers. * Dowden, Edward (1902)
"Literary Criticism in France."
In: ''New Studies in Literature.'' London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., pp. 388–418. * Compagnon, Antoine (1995). "Sainte-Beuve and the Canon," ''MLN,'' Vol. 110, No. 5, French Issue, pp. 1188–1199. * Guérard, Albert Léon (1913)
"Critics and Historians: Sainte-Beuve, Taine."
In: ''French Prophets of Yesterday.'' New York: D. Appleton and Company, pp. 201–223. * Harper, George McLean (1897)
"Sainte-Beuve,"
''Scribner's Magazine,'' Vol. XXII, No. 5, pp. 594–600. * Harper, George McLean (1901)
"Sainte-Beuve."
In: ''Masters of French Literature.'' New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 219–275. * Harper, George McLean (1909)
''Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve.''
Philadelphia and London: J.B. Lippincott Company. * James, Henry (1880)
"Sainte-Beuve,"
''The North American Review,'' Vol. CXXX, No. 278, pp. 51–69. * Kirk, John Foster (1866)
"Sainte-Beuve,"
''The Atlantic Monthly,'' Vol. XVII, No. 102, pp. 432–454. * Knickerbocker, William S. (1932). "Sainte-Beuve," ''The Sewanee Review,'' Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 206–225. * Lehmann, A.G. (1962). ''Sainte-Beuve: A Portrait of the Critic, 1804-1842.'' Oxford: Clarendon Press. * MacClintock, Lander (1920)
''Sainte-Beuve's Critical Theory and Practice After 1849.''
Chicago, Ill.: The University of Chicago Press. * Marks, Emerson R. (1964). "Sainte-Beuve's Classicism," ''The French Review,'' Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 411–418. * Mott, Lewis Freeman (1925). ''Sainte-Beuve''. New York: D. Appleton and Company. * Mulhauser, Ruth E. (1969). ''Sainte-Beuve and Greco-Roman Antiquity.'' Cleveland: Press of Case Western Reserve University. * Nelles, Paul (2000). "Sainte-Beuve between Renaissance and Enlightenment," ''Journal of the History of Ideas,'' Vol. 61, No. 3, pp. 473–492. * Paton, J.B. (1870)
"Sainte-Beuve and Renan,"
''The London Quarterly Review,'' Vol. XXXIII, pp. 457–480. * Pollak, Gustav (1914)
''International Perspective in Criticism.''
New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. * Proust, Marcel (1988). ''Against Sainte-Beuve and Other Essays.'' London: Penguin. * Smith, Horatio (1942). "Sainte-Beuve on Science and Human Nature: Jouffroy, Le Play, Proudhon," ''Modern Language Notes,'' Vol. 57, No. 7, pp. 592–602. * Sutcliffe, Emerson Grant (1921)
"Sainte-Beuve on Fiction,"
''The South Atlantic Quarterly,'' Vol. XX, pp. 41–51. * Switzer, Richard (1960). "Sainte-Beuve and the Ottocento," ''Italica,'' Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 109–117. * Whitridge, Arnold (1923). "The Personality of Sainte-Beuve," ''The North American Review,'' Vol. 217, No. 810, pp. 676–687. * Whitridge, Arnold (1938). "Matthew Arnold and Sainte-Beuve," ''PMLA,'' Vol. 53, No. 1, pp. 303–313.
"Hugo and Sainte-Beuve,"
''The National Quarterly Review,'' Vol. XX, 1869, pp. 32–52.
"M. Sainte-Beuve,"
''The Quarterly Review,'' Vol. CXIX, 1866, pp. 80–108.
"Sainte-Beuve,"
''The Edinburgh Review,'' Vol. CXXXII, 1870, pp. 126–154.

External links

* * *

at Bartleby.com. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sainte-Beuve, Charles Augustin 1804 births 1869 deaths People from Boulogne-sur-Mer French literary critics 19th-century French novelists Writers from Hauts-de-France French male novelists 19th-century French male writers Collège de France faculty Members of the Académie Française Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery French male non-fiction writers